


The Brady Bunch

by kidsoup (orphan_account)



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Angst, Drug Abuse, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Other, Recreational Drug Use, Suicide, no happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-05
Updated: 2014-10-05
Packaged: 2018-02-20 01:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2409995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/kidsoup
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Everyone thinks the Strider-Lalonde family is practically perfect.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Brady Bunch

**Author's Note:**

> Based loosely off Melanie Martinez's doll house.

There is a chair in the middle of the room.

\--

When you were six years old, your mom took your twin brother on a trip to Great Adventure. Your dad has a visitor over, some guy in his twenty somethings with dark hair and square shaped glasses, and he tells you to keep "our" little visitor a secret before locking himself in his room for the night. Mom comes home before the visitor leaves, and she pretends not to notice the red marks on the young man's neck when your dad leads him out of the house. You watch from the window and think it's a weird way of saying goodbye when your dad leans over, and gives the man a wet kiss straight on the lips.

When you mention this to your mother later, her eyes glaze over and she makes you promise not to mention anything to your friends at school. You're not sure why, but you agree and never bring it up again. Late that night, you see your mom open up an old bottle of vodka that's been full since you were a baby.

\--

A leash made of rope swings from the basement ceiling, deadly and inviting.

\--

For Christmas when you're eleven, you get a black kitten that you named Jaspers. Lately, you've been seeing a lot more of that Jake man but you're still not sure what or who he is to your parents. He's there on Christmas and your mother just smiles and giggles whenever he says something in that fancy accent of his, looks away when your father's hand lingers on Jake's thighs. By the end of the night, she's loose enough from eggnog that she even gives Jake a kiss on the cheek on his way out. Father still walks him to his car.

You wake up later to broken shouts of "Did you ever even love me Dirk" and amicable responses insisting "Quiet down Roxy, you'll wake the kids". Jaspers meows from his position in your arms.

"You'll never leave me right Jaspers? Even if my parents do?" His black fur tickles your chin and you take that as confirmation.

\--

Your face is dry as you let the rope fall heavy on your shoulders. Your breathing's level as always but you can feel your knees shake.

\--

Jaspers dies two years later from alcohol consumption.

Your mother lies motionless in her bed when you scream at her for making such a stupid mistake. She only gets up when your father says he's going to visit his friend to throw an empty bottle at the door as he closes it behind him and shout "And don't come back!"

Black tears stain her cheeks and you don't scream at her after that, don't even flinch later when she sobers up and begs for your forgiveness, saying you she'll buy you a new cat. You sigh and shake your head, give your shallow reassurances and walk away. A half filled and discarded bottle catches the light and you spend the night acquainting yourself with the bottom of it.

\--

Steady rap music accompanied by the nasal laugh of your brother's friend Sollux filter in from upstairs. You figure one of them will be the one to find you, too high to tell the difference between flying and falling.

\--

You and Dave are 15 when Dirk finally leaves. You wonder if Dave saw this coming as much as you did, but from the slight lift of the eyebrow you can tell he did. You go into his room later that night and watch him cut lines into powder til he passes out. You think the dollar bill he breathes through might be metaphorical but you're not sure what for and psychology has never helped you yet.

When you call your best friend Jade later and relay the day's events, she's confused. "But your family seemed so perfect! Your mom is always smiling when I come over."

You hang up, pick up your old friend Ciroc and tell him all your problems instead.

\--

There's one minute until the timer rings. You think about what your mother is doing, passed out in a sleazy bar somewhere. You hope that your dad finds out one way or another, and he comes to see you at your funeral. You wonder if he'll bring Jake with him. You don't think Dave would go; he'll probably join you soon enough- found in a warehouse with a needle still in his arm and his supposed friends no where to be found. You think about what Jade said, about your family being perfect. You think that maybe she was right.

A ring interrupts your contemplation and you kick out the chair. Your last thought as your body tries desperately to save you, is that- yes, your family is not bad at all.


End file.
